Adjustable terminal-bushing mounting



s. H. BODEN ETAL 2,889,396

ADJUSTABLE TERMINAL-BUSHING MOUNTING June 2, 1959 Filed Sept. 20. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS Samuel H. Bode a Ralph O. Bonine.

BY 1/ a ATTORNEY n 2.1959 1 s. H. BQDE ETAL 2,889,396

ADJUSTABLE TERMINAL-BUSHING MOUNTING Filed Sept. 20. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ADJUSTABLE TERMINAL-BUSHING MOUNTING Samuel H. Rodent, Turtle Creek, and Ralph 0. Bonine, Edgewood, Pa, assignors to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application September 20, 1954, Serial No. 457,254

2 Claims. (Cl. 174--161) This invention relates to adjustable terminal-bushing mountings, and more particularly to an improved constructional mounting arrangement for the adjustable location, and mounting, of a terminal bushing on a support.

A general object of our invention is to provide an improved adjustable mounting arrangement for a terminal bushing.

A more specific object of our invention is to provide an improved adjustable mounting arrangement for a terminal bushing of a circuit breaker, which enables the bushing to be easily adjusted and quickly clamped into position, once the adjustment has been made.

Still another object of our invention is to provide an improved adjustable mounting arrangement for a terminal bushing associated with electrical equipment, in which the setting or adjustment may be made in the factory, the bushing then removed and shipped to the customer separately from the remainder of the equipment, and the foregoing settings recorded, so that in the field, during installation, the bushing may rapidly be mounted in exactly the same position in which it was mounted in the factory, thereby enabling the installation to be set up in short order.

Further objects and advantages will readily become apparent upon reading the following specification, taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary, side elevational view, of two terminal bushings mounted upon a circuit breaker tank structure, with a portion of the wall of the tank broken away to illustrate the type of apparatus enclosed within the tank for the particular application;

Fig. 2 is a greatly enlarged View, in vertical section, of a fragmentary portion of our improved mounting construction;

Figs. 3 and 4 are, respectively, top plan, and vertical sectional views, of the eccentric bushing or sleeve, which we utilize in practicing our invention;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional View taken substantially along the line V-V of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional View, with a portion of the terminal bushing shown in side elevation, of a portion of the tank structure illustrated in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Fig. 1 thereof, the reference numeral 1 generally designates a tank-type circuit interrupter generally including a tank 2. filled to the level 3 with a suitable arc-extinguishing fluid, in this particular instance circuit breaker oil 4. The tank has a top supporting structure 5 generally comprising a plurality of flat plate portions welded together and to the internal sides of the upper end of the tank 2. The top structure 5 includes two upwardly extending flanged mounting supports 6 for fixedly supporting in place a pair of terminal bushings 7, 8.

Fixedly secured to the lower interior stud ends 9, respectively of terminal bushings 7, 8 are identical arcextinguishing units, generally designated by the reference numeral 12, and electrically interconnected, in the closed 2,889,396 Patented June 2, 1959 2 circuit position shown, by a conducting bridging member 13.

Each unit 12 may be of the type illustrated and claimed in United States patent application filed September 26, 1952, Serial No. 311,766, now United States Patent 2,760,- 032, issued August 21, 1956 to Benjamin P. Baker and George B. Cushing, and assigned to the assignee of the instant application. The bridging member 13 is vertically actuated in a reciprocal manner, as well known by those skilled in the art, by an insulating lift rod 14. The lift rod 14 is connected to a suitable straight-line linkage, not shown, disposed within an upstanding mechanism housing 15 of the tank 2, and adapted for connection to a longitudinally extending operating rod 16, which extends lengthwise along the 3 tank structures constituting the 3 poles of the circuit breaker.

in the construction of the circuit interrupter 1, it is necessary to adjust the particular position at which the lower ends 9, 10 of the terminal studs passing through the terminal bushings 7, 8 are located, so that, in turn, the extinguishing units 12. Will be properly located with respect to the extremities 17 of the conducting cross-bar 13. In other words, the conducting cross-bar 13 makes engagement with suitable contact structure Within the units 12, and also in this particular instance actuates side operating rods 18 associated with the units 12 to actuate the upper contact structure in each unit 12. Moreover, when a piston arrangement is associated with each extinguishing unit 12, it is necessary to accurately adjust the unit 12 with respect to the extremity 17 of the crossbar 13 so that proper operation takes place.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that a suitable lateral adjustment of the lower ends 9, 10 of the terminal bushings 7, 8 must be provided to accurately position the cross-bar 13 with respect to the extinguishing units 12. Our invention is particularly concerned with an improved mounting arrangement 20 interrelating the flanged supporting structure 6 of the tank 2 with the mounting flange assembly 21 of each terminal bushing 7, 8.

Fig. 6 more specifically illustrates the construction of the mounting flange assembly 21 of each terminal bushing 7, 8. With reference to this figure, it will be observed that the mounting flange assembly 21 comprises a grounded sleeve 22 having a lower flange ring 23, against which abuts the lower porcelain casing 24 of the terminal bushing '7. Disposed adjacent the upper end of the sleeve 22, and welded thereto, is a mounting ring or flange 25, more particularly illustrated in plan in Fig. 5, and containing a plurality, in this particular instance twelve, mounting holes 26 (Fig. 2). A plurality of mounting bolts 27 are provided to fixedly secure the flange ring 25 to the mounting ring 23, which constitutes a portion of the flange supporting structure 6 secured to the top plate 5 of the tank 2. The holes 26 are made larger than the bolts 27 to permit lateral adjustment.

With particular reference to Fig. 5, it will be noted that in three of the mounting holes 26, disposed at angular degrees apart, are disposed three eccentric bushings, or sleeves 2%, the particular construction of which is more readily apparent from a study of Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings. Each eccentric bushing, or sleeve, 29 includes a head portion ill in this particular instance of a hexagonal configuration, as shown in Fig. 3, to adapt it for being gripped by a suitable tool, such as an openended wrench, to effect its rotation. A marking slot 31 is provided at one side of the head portion 30, in which may be placed a suitable coloring agent, such as yellow paint, to indicate the particular alinement of the eccentric bushing 2ft. Also, each eccentric sleeve 29 is provided with an eccentric hole 32, through which the mounting bolts 27 may pass, as indicated in Fig. 2.

The lower ends of the mounting bolts 27 are threadedly secured to tapped apertures 33 provided circumferentially around the periphery of the mounting ring 28.

Referring to Fig. 5, it will be observed that the apertures 26 in the mounting ring 25 are larger than the tapped apertures 33 in the mounting ring 28, so that the remaining nine bolts 27, in the particular construction shown in Fig. 5, have considerable clearance 34 in their passage through the larger apertures 26 of the mounting ring 25 secured to the terminal bushing 7. Also, the other nine mounting bolts 27 preferably have a washer 35 thereunder, as shown in Fig. 6, to eliminate any possibility of the head portion 36 or bolt 27 passing downwardly through'the enlarged mounting hole 26 of the mounting ring 25.

The practicing of our invention will now be described. In the factory, it is desirable on the test floor to set up the circuit breaker 1 and to test for proper operation of the interrupter as a whole. Workrnen may then adjust or locate the lower interior ends 9, of the terminal bushings 7, 8 to accurately position the cross-bar 13 with respect to the contact and piston structures associated with each arc-extinguishing unit 12, by rotating the eccentric bushings 29 the desired amount. It will be obvious that rotation of the eccentric bushings 29 will effect a lateral movement of the mounting ring in the directions indicated by the arrows 37 of Fig. 2. Thus, rotation of the eccentric bushing 29 by a wrench engaging the head portion thereof, will effect lateral motion of the mounting ring 25 and hence the lower interior end 9, thereof. Once this adjustment has been made, a mark may be scratched in the surface of the mounting ring 25 directly opposite the marking slot 31 of the eccentric bushing 29. This mark is indicated by the reference numeral 38 in Fig. 2, where, for purposes of illustration, the location of the eccentric bushing 9 is indicated as being in the position of Figs. 3 and 4.

Following the testing procedure, the circuit interrupter 1 may be dismantaled, the bushings 7 and 8 removed bodily out of the tank 2 and the extinguishing units 12, of course, removed from the interior ends 9, 10 of the bushings 7, 8. The structure may then be mounted upon flat-cars and shipped to the customer in the field, where, during the installation process, the bushings 7, 8 will again be mounted to the tank 2 and threadedly secure into place the extinguishing units 12.

It is only then necessary for workment to position or locate the eccentric bushings 29 so that the markings 38, 31 line up, as shown in Fig. 2, to obtain the same position of the interior ends 9, 19 of the terminal bushings 7, 8 as the position to which they were adjusted in the factory. The application of this invention has enabled the installation crews in the field to set up circuit interrupters in record-making time by the use of the eccentric bushings 29. Whereas formerly considerable adjustment was necessary in the field, now the installation crews in the field merely need to aline the markings 31, 38 to obtain the same adjustment in the field as was obtained on the test floor in the factory.

In addition, it will be observed that the structure is decidedly simple and adjustment thereof is readily effected since only 3 eccentric bushings 29 need be rotated. Of course, once the adjustment is made, then all of the mounting bolts 2'7 are tightened to clamp the terminal bushings 7, 8 permanently into the desired position.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that we have provided an improved supporting construction for a terminal bushing which may be used in connection with a tank structure as shown in Fig. 1 containing liquid, such as oil, for circuit interrupter application. Or the invention may be applied where the bushings 7, 8 are mounted on, say, an open supporting framework where accurate positioning of one end of the terminal bushing is desired. We also intend to cover such a mounting arrangement when employed with a terminal bushing utilized in transformer installations where enclosing housings or tank structures are utilized. In fact, our invention may be used with a terminal bushing wherever accurate positioning and clamping of said terminal bushing is desired.

Although we have shown and described only a specific structure, it is to be clearly understood that the same was merely for the purpose of illustration, and that changes and modifications may readily be made therein by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim as our invention:

1. The combination in electrical apparatus of a terminal bushing having a circular mounting flange adjacent the mid-portion thereof, said circular mounting flange having a multiplicity of large first straight-sided mounting holes all of the same size spaced in a circular path around the outer periphery of said circular terminal bushing mounting flange, a hollow support for said terminal bushing having a circular support flange, said circular support flange having a multiplicity of smaller second straight-sided mounting holes all of the same size spaced in a circular path around the outer periphery of said circular support flange and registering with the said first holes in said circular terminal bushing mounting flange, said terminal bushing extending interiorly through said hollow support so that the confronting faces of the flanges abut each other and are adapted to slide over each other laterally with the axes of said first and second holes in registry for adjustment of one end of said terminal bushing, the mating first and second holes having straight blades, the first said mounting holes in said circular terminal bushing mounting flange being larger than their companion holes in said circular support flange, a multiplicity of conventional mounting bolts all of the same size extending through said multiplicity of pairs of holes and having a shank diameter substantially the same as said second holes in said circular support flange, said conventional mounting bolts each having conventional cylindrical shank portions and enlarged head portions, at least a pair of eccentric bushings with straight sides having enlarged head portions of greater size than said first holes extending through a spaced pair of said first larger holes in said circular terminal bushing mounting flange, the remaining pairs of holes accommodating only said conventional mounting bolts said pair of eccentric bushings encircling in sleeve-like relationship a pair of said conventional mounting bolts, and the enlarged head portion of each eccentric bushing with straight sides being so shaped as to accommodate an adjusting wrench for rotation of the eccentric bushing to effect lateral adjustment of said terminal bushing relative to said hollow support.

2. The combination in electrical apparatus of a terminal bushing having a circular mounting flange adjacent the mid-portion thereof, said circular mounting flange having a multiplicity of large first straight-sided mounting holes all of the same size spaced in a circular path around the outer periphery of said circular terminal bushing mounting flange, a hollow support for said terminal bushing having a circular support flange, said circular support flange having a multiplicity of smaller second straight-sided mounting holes all of the same size spaced in a circular path around the outer periphery of said circular support flange and registering with the said first holes in said circular terminal bushing mounting flange, said terminal bushing extending interiorly through said hollow support so that the confronting faces of the flanges abut each other and are adapted to slide over each other laterally with the axes of said first and second holes in registry for adjustment of one end of said terminal bushing, the mating first and second holes having straight sides, the first said mounting holes in said circular terminal bushing mounting flange being larger than their companion holes in said circular support flange, a multiplicity of conventional mounting bolts all of the same size extending through said multiplicity of pairs of holes and threaded into said second smaller mounting holes of said hollow support flange, said conventional mounting bolts each having conventional cylindrical shank portions and enlarged head portions, at least a pair of eccentric bushings with straight sides having enlarged head portions of greater size than said first holes extending through a spaced pair of said first larger holes in said circular terminal bushing mounting flange, the remaining pairs of holes accommodating only said conventional mounting bolts, said pair of eccentric bushings encircling in sleeve-like relationship a pair of said conventional mounting bolts, and the enlarged head portion of each eccentric bushing with straight sides being so shaped as to accommodate an adjusting wrench for rotation of the eccentric bushing to efiect lateral adjustment of said terminal bushing relative to said hollow support.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

